Cumberland Falls 67524 224813288 2008-07-10T15:08:47Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other [[Image:Cumberland Falls 2005 05 20a.jpeg|thumbnail|300px|right|Cumberland Falls by day. On clear moonlit nights, the mist from the falls occasionally produces a [[moonbow]].]] {{For|the Cumberland Falls meteorite of 1919|meteorite falls}} '''Cumberland Falls''', sometimes called the '''Little Niagara''', the '''Niagara of the South''', or the '''Great Falls''', is a large [[waterfall]] on the [[Cumberland River]] in southeastern [[Kentucky]]. Spanning the river at the border of [[McCreary County, Kentucky|McCreary]] and [[Whitley County, Kentucky|Whitley]] counties, the waterfall is the central feature of '''Cumberland Falls State Resort Park''', which itself is surrounded by the [[Daniel Boone National Forest]]. On average the falls, which flow over a resistant [[sandstone]] bed, are 68 feet (21 m) high and 125 feet (38 m) wide, with a water flow of 3,600 cubic feet per second (100 m³/s). Under a [[full moon]] on clear nights, an elusive [[moonbow|lunar rainbow]] or [[moonbow]] is sometimes formed by the mist emanating from the falls. The site is promoted as the only one in the world to feature this phenomenon, with [[Victoria Falls]] at the border of [[Zambia]] and [[Zimbabwe]] having lost its status due to forest cultivation.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Actually, almost any waterfall can produce a moonbow under ideal conditions; however, many comparable sites have [[Light pollution|too much light]] for this feature to be visible. ==History and preservation== Long known to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] of the area, Cumberland Falls received its name from Zachary Green, whose party discovered it during an expedition in 1770. From the 1860s to the 1930s, Cumberland Falls and the surrounding land were privately held. The Moonbow Inn, a popular hotel dating to around 1875, was perched on a ledge overlooking the falls. The area was a favorite vacation destination for [[T. Coleman du Pont]], a Kentucky native and [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Delaware]]. Disturbed by plans to build a [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric dam]] at the site, [[The Louisville Times|Louisville Times]] editor and conservationist [[Tom Wallace]] spearheaded a campaign to save the Falls from 1926-1931. In 1930, Wallace and other conservationists persuaded DuPont to purchase and donate 600 acres (2.4 km²) surrounding the falls to Kentucky, urging the commonwealth to set aside the property as a [[state park]]. Despite DuPont's death later that year, additional land was purchased, and in 1933 the state [[legislature]] designated the property as Kentucky's third state park. Much of the early work at the park, including construction of DuPont Lodge and cabins for guests, was undertaken during the [[Great Depression]] by [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC) and [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) employees. With a reported 700,000 to 1 million visitors per year, the park remains one of Kentucky's busiest and most profitable state parks. There are currently plans to build a golf course nearby as part of the state resort park. ==The Falls in entertainment and popular culture== The Falls have appeared in three [[film]]s: * ''[[The Kentuckian]]'' (1955) * ''[[Raintree County]]'' (1957) * ''[[Fire Down Below (1997 film)|Fire Down Below]]'' (1997) (appears in a flyover) == Further reading == *[[Harry M. Caudill|Caudill, Harry]], "Night Comes to the Cumberlands", 1962. ISBN 0-316-13212-8 *Huffman, Noah, [http://etd.louisville.edu/view-etd.php?ID=121 "Hanging the Moonbow: Tom Wallace and the Cumberland Falls Fight, 1926-1931"], 2005. ==External links== [[Image:Cumberland River 2005 05 20.jpeg|thumbnail|right|[[Canoe]]rs just upstream from Cumberland Falls.]] * [http://www.corbinkycityguide.com/ Kentucky information Guide] * [http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/khc/cumber.htm Kentucky tourism site] * [http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/resortparks/ Kentucky state parks information page] * [http://www.uky.edu/RGS/AppalCenter/gis/maps/kentucky.maps/mccreary/mccreary-county-web.final.layout.pdf McCreary County Recreation and Tourism Map (University of Kentucky site) (PDF)] * [http://www.escapingtoparadise.com/kentucky_waterfalls.htm Cumberland and Other Kentucky Waterfalls] {{Geolinks-US-buildingscale|36.83801|-84.34444}} [[Category:Waterfalls of Kentucky]] [[de:Cumberland Falls]]